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Originally Posted by Matthew
Fading Suns is a transparent Dune knockoff. Holistic thought pretty much the same thing we did; this is a cool setting. Let's make a game were you can run around in it.
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There is a definite Dune influence and you'd have to be an idiot not to see it. (I got introduced to the game when it first came out by a guy at a game store who said to me "Hey, check out this game, it's a lot like the Dune setting, but different.") But I wouldn't say that Fading Suns was only Dune with the serial numbers filed off; certainly as time went on it became less so. (I own all or nearly all the books.)
The way nobles are handled and shields are the two most obvious Dune parallels. Also, the notion of an abandonment of technology comes into play, but it happens for different reasons. However, there are many other aspects to Fading Suns that don't really parallel Dune much at all, e.g., the Urth Orthodox Church, the more supernatural aspects (Antinomy and the Empyreans), Lovecraftian horror (what lies between the gates?), and the origin story for the Jumpgates. A number of parallels are weaker than one might think once you dig into them for a while, like the Charioteers, who only wish they were the Guild. IIRC, Dune had no sentient aliens in it at all, whereas the precursor races are totally essential to Fading Suns, the Vau are more powerful than humanity by a fair margin, and humanity's interaction with various alien races play an important role in the setting.
If one wanted to run "game of houses" in Fading Suns that was very Dune-esque that would most definitely be possible, but the game certainly demanded no such focus.
Jay